Jan De Bont’s movie Twister is, by anyone’s estimation, an old movie. Is 27 years old for a person? No. But for a special effects movie? You betcha. Twister—which was a big disaster movie about tornado chasers—has the honor of being the very first movie ever on DVD. I haven’t thought about Twister in who knows how long. Until today, of course, when Deadline reports a sequel is on the way starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. The name of the sequel? Why, Twisters, naturally.
Directing this new take will be Lee Isaac Chung, director of Minari and episode three of this season of The Mandalorian. (The Dr. Pershing one.) Writing the screenplay this go-around is Mark L. Smith, whose previous credits include The Revenant and Overlord. Per Variety, Anthony Ramos and Nope‘s Brandon Perea have also joined the cast of Twisters. The cast rounds out with Maura Tierney, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sasha Lane, Kiernan Shipka, Nik Dodani, David Corenswet, Tunde Adebimpe, and Katy O’Brian.
The original movie was an enormous hit in 1996, wracking up almost $500 million at the box office. The special effects at the time were groundbreaking, giving moviegoers the most impressive sense of scale of any CGI to date. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt starred as a pair of divorced storm-chasers who reconnect amidst what we can only describe as the most act-of-godlike week of weather Kansas has ever seen. No word on if Hunt will appear in the movie. Paxton, sadly, passed away in 2017.
Powell is having a hell of a year, following the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick. He’ll next appear in Richard Linklater’s comedy Hitman (no relation to the popular game series). Edgar-Jones, meanwhile, has starred in the series Normal People as well as the movies Where the Crawdad Sings and Fresh.
Twisters will hit theaters once they make it.
Originally published on April 14, 2023.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.